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Wednesday, September 3, 2014

All Spice Dress pattern test

It's a lovely dress with lots of options. I tested the flutter sleeve and sleeveless but there is also a cap sleeve and long sleeve--truly making this a dress for all seasons.

The real focal point of this dress is the bodice. I chose a zipper closure because I felt a front zipper was really fun, unique and unexpected. If the Bug were younger, I probably would have chosen the button option since she liked to unzip things!

For the fabric I chose this really soft, lightweight poly cotton blend. It's so silky and smooth on the inside while the right side has nice texture from those raised dots.

Here you can see the detail of the bodice. I love the square neckline. Three pleats on either side accent the zipper nicely. I did my top stitching in the same green as the zipper. I think it adds a fun punch of color.

It's such a lovely combination. There was a bit of a fit issue for some people with the first version of the pattern so it went through several edits. This grey dress was an early version. The fit for the Bug was fine but I totally appreciate all of the tweaking to get things just right.

When the last of the pattern updates had been made, I sewed up another version to test out the final fit. The Bug is just a hair bigger than the chest measurement for the size 6 so I went with the size 7. You can see she has a bit of room to grow but it's not excessive. I'm hoping it will still fit next Spring.

This time I skipped the sleeves altogether and just went sleeveless. I think it works with this print. A flutter sleeve would have been too frilly with all those flowers.

The fabric is from a thrifted sheet so it's super soft. I was also able to reuse the sheet hem for the bottom of the dress. Hooray for shortcuts! I hate hemming. I did cut the skirt panels shorter than the tutorial required to account for the pre-done hem so the skirts final measurement would be the same.

We have another hit on our hands. I took a big risk with both of these dresses. They are not in the Bug's typical color scheme (Pink, Purple and Blue) so I knew I was pushing it. But so far, she really likes them. She likes that they spin (of course) but she also thought the front zipper was pretty neat. I was surprised but one of the first things she noticed and commented on was the pleating detail. It does my heart good that she is learning to spot and appreciate those details!

The All Spice Dress pattern should release today! I'll update my links here as soon as it does. You're going to want to get this pattern. With so many options, you'll sew the All Spice again and again.

Edit--This just in! The All Spice Pattern is now available and if you get it before Sunday it's 25% off with the codeALLSPICE